We’ve had plenty of excellent scripts sent in for consideration so we’re dreading having to decide on the shortlist! The lucky six writers will hear from us just as soon as our host venue is confirmed.
And don’t forget you can get in touch to let us know what you think or if you’d like to take part…. watch this space for more details!
The deadline has passed but if you had planned to send us your short scripts or comedy application for the upcoming show, don’t despair! A Friend of a Friend will be deciding who will be shortlisted for this performance in the next fortnight, so if all you have to do is email it….. go ahead and do it!
afriendofafriendtheatre@hotmail.co.uk
We’ve found another review for First Draft by Bob Cornwell at crimetime.co.uk.
“Wildehouse, a farcical Jeeves/Wooster parody given a venal 21st century makeover, had its Wooster equivalent Samuel Wildehouse (played by an appropriately OTT Dominic Rye) and his smoothly sinister manservant Reinhart (Canavan Connolly), having dealt with the traditional formidable aunt with some finality, forced to defend their bachelor establishment against hordes of violent revolutionaries. Effectively performed and sharply written (by Robin Johnson), the able direction by Alex Mack kept the whole piece nicely on the boil.
Foster’s Vigilante, the evening’s opening item, was a thought-provoking two-hander debating the nature of modern justice. Inspired by an incident connected with Moors murderer Ian Brady, the play, directed by Sam Snape, is a confrontation between a convicted killer and the desperately grieving husband/father of two of his victims. Colin Jonathan Appleby embodied the banality of evil as the killer, wrong-footing a distraught and bewildered Matthew Jure as the man, through revenge, seeking to give what remains of his life some shape or meaning. The ‘resolution’ of the drama was sudden, shocking – and as ‘noir’, in the best sense of the word, as they come.”
John Foster and Noir Theatre (First Draft at the Charing Cross Theatre, 22 January 2012)
“There is film noir, noir on TV, every kind of literary noir you care to name,” John Foster once remarked. “But where is noir in the theatre?” It’s a pertinent observation from a man with a long career in TV drama, one that includes scripts for Z-Cars, Softly Softly and The Bill, not to mention a BAFTA award for his BBC Omnibus programme on Raymond Chandler. Crime fiction in the theatre often seems confined to Agatha Christie adaptations and murder mystery evenings at the local arts centre. It is a situation that Foster, over the last few years, has been trying to remedy, alongside his busy life as a lecturer in screenwriting at Bournemouth University’s Media School (and elsewhere), .
Vigilante, his latest effort, self-contained but part of a work in progress, premiered last week at the small but lively Charing Cross Theatre underneath the eponymous station. The piece was included in First Draft, a programme of new writing organised by A Friend of a Friend, a new theatre venture run by Frank Osborne and Susanna Narvaez.
Like so much of this type of hardly funded theatre, sets are minimal or non-existent, throwing even greater emphasis on writing, staging, and performance. It says much for the general level of interest throughout the evening that longueurs were few and far between.
Two items particularly stood out. Wildehouse, a farcical Jeeves/Wooster parody given a venal 21st century makeover, had its Wooster equivalent Samuel Wildehouse (played by an appropriately OTT Dominic Rye) and his smoothly sinister manservant Reinhart (Canavan Connolly), having dealt with the traditional formidable aunt with some finality, forced to defend their bachelor establishment against hordes of violent revolutionaries. Effectively performed and sharply written (by Robin Johnson), the able direction by Alex Mack kept the whole piece nicely on the boil.
Foster’s Vigilante, the evening’s opening item, was a thought-provoking two-hander debating the nature of modern justice. Inspired by an incident connected with Moors murderer Ian Brady, the play, directed by Sam Snape, is a confrontation between a convicted killer and the desperately grieving husband/father of two of his victims. Colin Jonathan Appleby embodied the banality of evil as the killer, wrong-footing a distraught and bewildered Matthew Jure as the man, through revenge, seeking to give what remains of his life some shape or meaning. The ‘resolution’ of the drama was sudden, shocking – and as ‘noir’, in the best sense of the word, as they come.
Vigilante is the latest from John Foster’s Doppelganger production company. Previous work includes Little Boy, dealing with Major Claude Eatherley, the American who gave the all-clear for the bombing of Hiroshima, and which was staged in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008 as The Murder Monologues, in a double bill with Sheila West’s Chocolate Cake. Other recent work includes Five Go Killing and The Murder Wife. Forthcoming is Chummy, another ‘noir’, along with Death of a Model Citizen, Before Turning the Gun on Myself, and, a new departure, Hap, “a dark comedy”.
If John Foster has anything to do with it, noir theatre is on its way. Watch this space…
A Friend of a Friend is very excited to announce at we have started work on our next show and are on the lookout for script submissions. If you are interested in taking part, dust off your lined notepad and start writing now, or have a look through your old work.
The deadline for scripts is MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY 15TH APRIL 2012.
If you have a comedy act that you would like to take part in the next show, let us know by TUESDAY 1ST MAY 2012.
For full details on how to apply have a look at the Take Part page for our July 2012 performance.
Following the success of First Draft on January 22nd, we’ve had two reviews from Remote Goat. There are some sensible criticisms and some marvellous words of praise, but what did you think? Let us know on twitter @FOAF_Theatre and Facebook, where you can also see what happened when the girls from FunBags were put in charge of a camera backstage during the show.